EOS Takes a Vow, Malta at the UN, and an $8 Billion Valuation: This Week in Crypto

Make sure you check out our previous edition here, now let’s go over what happened in crypto this week. Also, make sure you subscribe for this week’s edition of The CCN Podcast on iTunes, TuneIn, Stitcher, Google Play Music, Spotify, Soundcloud, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. Also make sure you check out our interview with Caitlin Long.

Price Watch:

Bitcoin is down 1.11% this week following a stable few weeks. Bitcoin is up 1% this month and continues to oscillate around the $6,500 level.

Ethereum is down 4% this week to $222, despite the negativity around some of Ethereum’s fundamentals, analysts are gaining confidence that Ethereum bottomed out at $170 after a long slide backward from over $1,000 at the peak of the great bull run of 2017.

The entire coin market capitalization is down around 1.8% in what’s been a slow week on price movements. Ripple declined precipitously this week

Bulls & Bears:

Bitcoin Will Not Challenge Gold as a Safe-Haven Asset: Equity Analyst – Writing in Morningstar Research Services’ short-form investment commentary series, the “Morningstar Minute,” equity analyst Kristoffer Inton noted that if bitcoin did begin to replace gold as a safe haven asset, it would represent a “seismic shift” in the investment case for the precious metal as 40 percent of gold demand comes from investors. For this reason, Intron thinks the shift is unlikely.

Cryptocurrency is ‘Here to Stay’ – CTFC Chairman Giancarlo, the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) stated in an interview with CNBC that cryptocurrency is “here to stay,” even if it never achieves the ultimate goal of becoming the world’s leading currency, as Square CEO Jack Dorsey said that he believes it will.

Tokens:

Tether Dominates 98% of Stablecoin Trading Volume – In a report titled The State of Stablecoins, digital assets tech firm Blockchain Luxembourg SA estimates that approximately 98% of the total daily trading volume of stablecoins is dominated by Tether. On a daily basis, this translates to approximately 60% of the daily trading volume of Bitcoin.

Block.one Vows to Use its EOS Tokens to Prevent Voting Cartels – When cryptocurrency development firm Block.one concluded its initial coin offering (ICO) and released the first version of the EOSIO software, it didn’t just raise a record ~$4 billion in crowdfunded contributions — it also received 100 million of the 1 billion EOS tokens distributed through the network’s Genesis block. Now, the well-funded blockchain startup is vowing to use those tokens to stave off any block producer voting cartels, whether they are present now or arise sometime in the future.

XRP is ‘Very Clearly Decentralized’: Ripple CEO – Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse in a recent interview with financial news outlet Cheddar spoke to some of his critics concerns this week. Garlinghouse, who was speaking on the sidelines of the Ripple-sponsored industry conference “Swell” in San Francisco, said that he believes XRP is “very clearly decentralized.”

Governments:

Malta PM Talks Crypto at UN General Assembly – At the UN General Assembly, Malta Prime Minister Muscat emphasized that recognizing the potential of the blockchain, Malta has openly embraced the crypto market and businesses within it, leading the global cryptocurrency sector with favorable regulations and practical policies. The island has been rewarded with investments from the likes of Binance and endorsements by its CEO Changpeng Zhao.

TechCrunch Founder Outraged at US SEC – Michael Arrington, the co-founder of TechCrunch, announced that his venture capital firm has decided to move out of the US and relocate to Asia after the SEC sent two subpoenas to XRP Capital. Outraged by the decision of the SEC to crack down on local companies and investment companies, Arrington added: “the U.S. has already been left behind.”

Exchanges:

Will Coinbase Achieve $8 Billion Valuation? – Tiger Global, a U.K. hedge fund that invests mainly in global consumer brands, is reportedly considering a $500 million investment in Coinbase, which would boost the startup’s valuation close to $8 billion and strengthen the cryptocurrency market’s legitimacy, according to sources that spoke to Recode. The investment would make Coinbase one of the highest valued U.S. startups.

BitMEX Taps Former Hong Kong Regulator as Chief Operating Officer – BitMEX, one of the largest cryptocurrency trading platforms, has named Angelina Kwan, formerly managing director and head of regulatory compliance for Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), as its chief operating officer. Kwan, who joins the company as it rides exceptional growth, will work with regulators worldwide to develop rules that will support cryptocurrency’s continued growth.